For the Moment | Thomas Persson on the Colors of Lanvin

This week’s guest blogger is Thomas Persson, the editor in chief and creative director of Acne Paper. Founded in Stockholm in 1996, Acne — perhaps best known for its omnipresent pipe-cleaner-thin jeans — is a diverse creative collective, working within the worlds of fashion, graphic design, magazine publishing, film production and advertising.

Spring has finally arrived in Paris. Walking to the office today I was mesmerized by the pink cherry blossoming against the clear blue sky. The colors were so brilliant, so vibrant and energizing, I decided to spend my last day as guest blogger thinking about color.

To me there is one fashion house that does color better than anyone else, and that is Lanvin. Therefore, I was so happy when they invited me over to have a look at their collection of fabulous color Polaroids from two years of fittings.

THE COLORS OF LANVIN

For the house of Lanvin, colors means life and celebration, “a feeling of love and happiness,” says Daphne Karras who has worked with Alber Elbaz as women’s wear designer for more than three years. Since then Daphne, a Canadian-born Central Saint Martins graduate, has been a central figure in the house, working with Monsieur Elbaz on research and design, as well as the fittings and the shows.

“In the design process we often take Polaroid pictures to see how everything works together,” she says. “It’s a good way to remember a look, and for the dresser to know what to do at the show. What’s nice about a Polaroid is that it’s the picture before the “real” picture, so the models are more natural and relaxed. Polaroids also have an element of surprise. Sometimes, for instance, the light is wrong. Accidents like that can be very inspiring.”

For today’s blog Daphne and I put together a Lanvin Polaroid story inspired by the rainbow. “Polaroids are fading away,” she says. “Today, it’s mostly used by creative people such as artists and designers. I love the quality of them, the twisted colors. You know, we bought tons of Polaroid film, but then we lost the camera.” Thankfully, Daphne has saved two shoe-boxes of Polaroids documentating some of Lanvin’s most amazing looks. Here’s a selection:

Lanvin Spring/Summer 2008: In October last year, the fashion world witnessed a rare moment in Paris. In the Lanvin tent strings of dim light bulbs created a spectacular circus-at-night effect for the explosions of colors that came in waves down the runway: red, pink, purple, blue, green, yellow. It was the rainbow in flowing motion, a lighter than air silhouette that ballooned as the models walked, making the audience rise from their seats, cheering with excitement and joy. Here is the show:

To end my week as guest blogger I decided to choose some color poetry from 1966, by word jazz artist Ken Nordine. Hope you have enjoyed my blog. All the best wishes to you from me.